damp patches on wall... is it a pointing problem?

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum and looking for some advice. A wall to the building is not directly accessible to me and is overlooking the neighbours garden. I got access to it recently to see why I have some dampness showing through the middle of the walls of my kitchen.

I've attached a few photos to show what I saw and I hope someone out there can give me a better idea of what might be going on. Its clearly visible from the walls that pointing is broken down and needs redoing, and I'm guessing that might be the simple answer to solve the damp problem too. Also, you'll notice how some areas of the wall are clearly darker than others in patches.

Any thoughts, any ideas? please share them.

You can see the full photos here... //www.diynot.com/network/scotjam/albums/

best regards
scot

Damp patches like that are generally pointing or brick face related.

Pointing gives a tough smooth face for rain to run mostly down the wall.

Cracked, soft, missing mortar allows rain to move into the wall along the top of the bricks. This will also allow frost damage to occur as the moisture freezes and blows the brick or mortar face even more.

Soft bricks or those with a deteriorated face, also lead to damp patches.

Clean off any algae, replace any defective bricks and repoint

Also, check that coping to make sure that it has a proper drip and overhang and no open joints. The coping should not allow rain to drip into the wall below it

Hi

thanks for the response...

some simple and newbie questions follow.

does it matter what type of cement is used for pointing? this is an old victorian building and the bricks are old and porous...

is mortar the same as cement used for pointing, or is the mortar that bit of cement which binds the bricks on top of one another?

replacing defective bricks sounds expensive, can i paint over them instead? e.g. i've seen some houses on my street who have plastered the whole wall and painted it white. is this a cheaper option?

what's 'coping'? i'm guessing that's the gutters.

hope you can help.
cheers
scot